Retail gasoline prices rise for 1st time in 10 weeks

AP Photo
FILE - In this June 11, 2013, file photo, a motorist puts fuel in his car’s gas tank at a service station in Springfield, Ill. American motorists are bracing for further increases in gas pump prices this summer after average national prices rose 12 cents in the past week alone. AAA says drivers are experiencing “sticker shock” as increased summer demand, unrest in Egypt and production disruptions in the U.S. and other countries push up the price of crude oil and gasoline. The national average price for regular unleaded gasoline was $3.67 a gallon on Friday, July 19, 2013.

NEW YORK — The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States rose for the first time in 10 weeks, gaining more than 8 cents in the last two, as retailers passed on higher wholesale costs to consumers, according to a widely followed survey released on Sunday.

Gasoline cost $3.6746 per gallon on average on July 26, up from $3.5908 on July 12, based on a survey of about 2,500 retail stations.

Trilby Lundberg, editor of the Lundberg survey said the rise in gasoline had nothing to do with crude oil prices because they fell during the two-week period. Rather, it has to do with the increase in the cost of refined crude.

“Several days ago, refiners were already paying more for crude and they translated those higher crude prices into higher wholesale prices for gasoline that they charge,” Lundberg said.

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“This means that several days ago, retailers had already received price hikes in what they pay to refiners. Retailers then had to pass that increase to motorists in order to be financially viable.”

In a sampling of cities in the lower 48 U.S. states, the cheapest gasoline was found in Charleston, South Carolina, at $3.34 per gallon, up from $3.22 two weeks ago. Drivers in Chicago paid the most at $4.10 a gallon, up from $4.04 two weeks earlier.

On Friday, crude oil futures slid 0.7 percent to $104.70 per barrel and were down for the week on concerns about waning demand from China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer.